(A/N: Well, we are BACK. FINALLY! Thanks for waiting, everyone; we appreciate it!We mentioned this was originally meant to be a one-shot, but it was too long...so it's turned into a short..three-shot:P And here is the third part! Enjoy!)

Previously...

Gabriella knocked timidly on the door. She listened as Ms. Miller walked briskly towards the door, the only sound being the sound of her heels clicking against the tile floor.

"Why, hello Ms. Montez. So glad you could join us. I assume you have a valid excuse as to why you are late to my class..." The woman's lips formed a thin line as she watied patiently for Gabriella's response.

"I just...lost track of time." She finally answered, quietly. Ms. Miller nodded curtly and opened the door fully so Gabriella could walk into the classroom. As she walked down the aisle, between the desks, she felt all twenty-six pairs of eyes on her. She finally set down her books and sat down in a vacant seat, feeling the heat rise to her cheeks as she noticed all eyes were still on her.

"Well, I was about to say, before I was rudely interuppted," Gabriella sunk down in her seat. "For the three, now four, people who were late for this class, you will serve fourty-five minutes of detention, starting after the bell rings at 2:45 this afternoon..." Miller kept talking, but Gabriella couldn't hear it. 2:45...fourty five minutes from 2:45...was...definitely not 2:50.

She had yet to think up a plan, and upon hearing the final bell, one last word came to mind.

Shit.

She watched blankly as the rest of the class (minus the few other students who were also meant to stay for detention) file out the door, still partly in shock. In a pitiful attempt to make herself feel better about the whole ordeal, she tried to convince herself that missing meeting her admirer was no big loss. It wasn't working. She sighed, deciding there was nothing more she could do and sat there while the next fourty-five minutes passed by uneventfully.

Gabriella opened her locker sadly and sighed as she put her books in. Hearing footsteps echo through the hallways, she turned around to see Troy walking down the corridor, looking disappointed with his head hanging down.

"Hey, Troy," She called out. Troy's head snapped up at the sound of her voice. He smiled, suddenly looking happier.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"Detention," Gabriella said the word with disgust. "You?"

"Oh, just meeting up with someone." Troy replied.

She nodded. Feeling her heartbeat speed up, she asked curiously, trying her best to mask her nervousness, "Who?"

Troy rubbed the back of his neck nervously then shrugged. "She uhm...they didn't show."

Gabriella sensed the nervousness in his voice and took into consideration his words. It all started to come together. Taylor was right...about everything.

Not wanting to voice her conclusion, she simply responded, "Oh. So, uhm...any idea why she - er..they - didn't show?"

He nodded. "Yea." The atmosphere suddenly became very tense. The two looked around at anything except the other. Gabriella quietly cleared her throat then turned to leave, her the soles of her shoes quietly shuffling against the floor. Troy watched her walk away for a moment before jogging to catch up with her. "So...did you find out who sent you that valentine?" He asked softly.

"I have an idea...But i'm not certain yet. I was supposed to meet him after school today. But...detention," She hinted. He nodded in understanding. There was another awkward silence.

"Why is it so hard for us to talk to each other now? We never have trouble talking to each other," Troy wondered aloud.

She shrugged innocently. "I guess it's because we both know exactly what the other is talking about but neither of us wants to say that we know because we're scared that we might be wrong about it," She suggested truthfully. Troy looked confused, trying to comprehend the sentence.

"How about we try this again," Troy eventually proposed, still not understanding what she meant, earning a small smile and nod from Gabriella. "So...what was the name of the person who you think sent you the valentine?" He asked her, now sure that she would be the one to say it and he wouldn't have to muster up the courage to.

"Why don't you tell me?" Oh, she was good.

"Maybe I don't know who it is."

"We both know that's a pretty huge maybe," Gabriella joked.

He grinned back at her. "A little confident, are we?" She just laughed.

"Well, okay. How about this: I'm pretty sure we BOTH know who it is. So, on the count of three, we'll both say who we think it is...Deal?" She asked, the tone in her voice turning serious. Troy agreed, shifting nervously. "One...two...three," She counted. They both responded solemnly.

"Me."

"Chad." Troy's eyes widened at her answer. She thought it was Chad?

THE END!

(A/N: Well, hope you enjoyed that!! I know we enjoyed writing it!! LOL Just joking:) On with the story...okay, guys:P this next part was just sorta...randomly thought up. Sorry if you don't get it; it's just supposed to add a little humor to the situation:P)

"Chad?" Troy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Did I hear my name?" A perky voice said as a head appeared in between Troy and Gabriella. Gabriella gave a few small coughs after recieving a mouthful of a brown afro.

"Yea."

"No." They answered together, both wondering how Chad managed to sneak up behind them so silently. Chad shrugged then turned to leave just as quickly as he arrived, holding a small grey and white bird in his arms. The two watched his retreating figure confusedly.

"...Did he just walk away holding a penguin?" Troy asked incredulously.

"I think it's pretty clear that he did," Gabriella replied, staring at the spot Chad had just been standing in. "Question is, WHERE did he get a penguin?" They both shook it off, knowing that with Chad, it was best to simply not ask questions.

Troy turned his head back to face Gabriella and jumped right back into their previous conversation, "So, Chad, huh?" He questioned coolly, his facial expression changing to one of disinterest as he tried to mask how he was really feeling. Gabriella just shook her head. "So...NOT Chad?" He guessed. She simply nodded her head in response. "Huh?" He tilted his head in confusion.

"It's not Chad," She cleared.

"We've already established that. Why'd you say it was?"

"Was it really you who sent it?" Gabriella questioned, changing the subject.

"Yes, it was," Troy told her, honestly. "Why'd you say you thought it was Chad?" He wasn't letting her get away with it that easily.

She took in a deep breath. " I guess I just didn't want to be wrong about it," She explained. "If I told you who I REALLY thought it was, and I was wrong about it; I'd be so embarrased," Gabriella gave a shy laugh.

"But...When you said you thought it was Chad, you were still wrong," He pointed out.

"I know, I know," She sighed. "Thing is, I knew that I was wrong...So it wasn't as bad, you know?"

"Uhm...Not really, but okay. If you didn't think it was Chad, who did you really think it was?"

"You." She blushed.

Troy chuckled. "And you're not just saying that because know you know for sure who it was, and you don't want to look wrong?" He smirked. Gabriella smiled and shook her head.

"Nope."

"So, you were going to show; to see who your admirer was?" He confirmed, seriously.

"Yep."

He raised his eyebrow. "What's with all these one word answers?"

She grinned and shrugged playfully. "Dunno." Troy flashed his 100-watt grin back to her. The continued to stand in a comfortable silence until Gabriella began walking away, knowing Troy would follow her. She spoke up not long after.

"So, about that Valentine..." She trailed off, biting her lip nervously.

"Wh-what about it?" Troy tried to remain calm and stuffed his hands deep into his jean pockets to keep himself from tapping his fingers against his leg: it was his nervous habit.

Gabriella paused, as if trying to word her next sentence perfectly. "Why would you give one to me?" She finally answered. He gave a little laugh before taking in a deep breath.

"Well, I dunno, Gabs. I mean, it's not like I love your laugh or when you smile, it's not like I think you're beautiful, smart and talented; not like I think you're completely perfect."

Gabriella looked him in the eyes, blushing, before breaking the stare and replying with a cheeky grin, "Well, I think perfect is a bit of a stretch."

Troy tried to catch her eye again before locking gaze and telling her seriously, "I don't." He leaned in to kiss her, taking a small step forward...

Before tripping. He stumbled foreward, grabbing onto Gabriella's arms for support out of reflex. The almost-couple looked down to see what Troy could've possibly tripped on in the middle of a near empty hallway to see a grey and white bird waddling away from them at a fast pace. Seconds later, Chad whizzed past them, muttering under his breath, brow furrowed in concentration, holding a butterfly net firmly with both hands over his right shoulder. After watching Chad disappear around the corner once again, Gabriella turned back to Troy and immediately felt his press lips softly to hers. She closed her eyes and began to get lost in the kiss, wrapping her arms around Troy's neck as he wrapped his around her waist, pulling her close.

She pulled back when the need for air became evident. "Wow," She breathed.

"Sorry," Troy grinned sheepishly. "I just...wanted to do that before we got interuppted by that penguin again," He explained, earning a laugh from her. "You know," He continued, "Valentines Day isn't over yet..." Gabriella simply grinned and wordlessly took him by the hand and led him away.

(A/N: And there you have it! A slightly fluffy, slightly random three-shot. Hope you liked it! Sorry it took us so long to get this up:P Many times when we got together to write the chapters, we ended up going completely random and off topic. At one point, we were talking about turning Troy into a superhero (cool walkie talkie type watch and all) and having to leave Gabriella after their kiss because he had to go save the world from George Bush. (Sorry if anyone likes him or anything.)

PS: I (larabaybee) will be changing my Penname to Listen.To.Your.Heartx3 soon, so that's just a heads up.

Well, thanks for reading everyone, and have a great summer:) Review and keep on rockin'!)